A Royal Malaysia Police chopper took a nosedive straight into Sungai Pulai in Gelang Patah, Johor, on Thursday. This happened right in the middle of a ceremonial flypast for some big-deal nuclear security exercise, MITSATOM 2025.
The bird was an Airbus AS355N (if you’re into that sort of tech talk), tagged 9M-PHG. It lifted off from Tanjung Kupang Police Station around 9:51 in the morning and, not even an hour later, bam—crashed at 10:37 a.m., just 21 meters from the MMEA jetty. That’s practically spitting distance.
Caught On Cam: Malaysian Police Helicopter Plunges Into River
All five officers on board got yanked out of the river by the Marine Police—fast, too—and rushed off to Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Bahru. Social media went wild, of course.
There’s even a video floating around from @HaziqKapten on X showing the moment the chopper just plunged right in, with a rescue boat tearing across the water. Two journalists who were covering the exercise were totally shocked—The Edge Malaysia quoted one calling it “utterly shocking.”
The crew included ACP Faizul Mohammad (pilot), Supt Ahmad Bustamin Baharom (co-pilot), Corporal Adeline Liu Yan Siu (air observer), Sergeant Siti Latipa Khairuddin, and Constable RG Devendran. Three of them were from the Air Wing Unit.
Video of the Royal Malaysian Police Aérospatiale AS335N Ecureuil 2 helicopter with registration number 9M-PHG which crashed at the Sungai Pulai near Gelang Patah , Johor. All five passengers onboard including pilot were successfully rescued afterwards. pic.twitter.com/RYYHxAAWnc
— Muhammad Haziq Hafizan ( Capt ) (@HaziqKapten) July 10, 2025
Malaysian Police Helicopter Crash: Five Officers Injured
Two out of the five officers are in serious shape and need machines just to breathe, while the other three are hanging in there, according to the top cop, Inspector-General Datuk Seri Mohd Khalid Ismail.
The Marine Police got the team out and handed them over to the MMEA jetty for quick medical evacuation.
The crash threw a wrench into MITSATOM 2025, which was supposed to be a joint anti-nuclear smuggling drill with Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore all in the mix. The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) confirmed stuff went sideways and launched an investigation, hinting at mechanical failure.
The authorities are looking for the chopper’s black box right now to figure out exactly what went wrong.
How old was the Malaysian Police helicopter?
The crashed helicopter is a 1996 model. Apparently, there was already talk of swapping out five of these old birds with tenders out since November.
Khalid isn’t having any of the “too old” talk, though; he said maintenance matters more than age, and this was just one of those freak things. Still, a committee’s now on the case, deciding whether it’s finally time to retire the 28-year-olds.
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